Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Here's another new post for your Tuesday, and while it's mostly devoted to some long awaited video footage from a big recent concert, we're leading off with a huge LOCAL CONCERT ALERT for later this year, so without any further adieu, here's what you need to know!

Poison frontman Bret Michaels will return to The Dreammaker's Theater at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino for another headlining concert on Saturday, November 25th in what the venue is calling their "Thanksgiving Weekend Mega Party" during his The Party Starts Now World Tour! Make this concert Bret's seventh (at least) in the Twin Saults, having previously rocked The Eastgate Hotel in 2005 and the Soo Kewadin in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014 and last November, which is a clear sign of how well his local concerts go and are received! Falling over the American Thanksgiving long weekend, hopefully fans' turkey hangovers are gone in time for a night of hair metal classics from Poison like "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" & "Unskinny Bop", plus selections from Bret's solo career, so keep this huge show in mind for later this fall! As of this writing, there are no announced opening bands, though none were advertised last year either.

Tickets go on sale this Friday at the in-person box office, online at this link, and at 1-800-KEWADIN, and while tickets start at $48.50, expect higher prices depending on seating location and announced VIP packages. Expect this one to be another 7:00 PM event with no announced age limits. It's great to see Bret return to Sault Michigan for his sixth show here in the past decade, and if he keeps coming back, something is obviously clicking, so for all you Hair Scare fans, don't miss out on this one over the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, and tickets go on sale FRIDAY!

Next up, here's some long awaited videos from the Diamond Head concert at The Rockstar Bar in Sault Ontario from earlier this month, courtesy of Christopher Paci's awesome YouTube channel once again! Uploaded yesterday despite a two week wait for his footage, Chris filmed 13 videos on September 2nd, including seven of the headlining British NWOBHM pioneers, including their songs "Streets of Gold", "It's Electric", "Set My Soul On Fire", "Diamonds", "Wild on the Streets", and of course, "Am I Evil?", complete with a mishap near the end where Chris says he "got decked". Hopefully he was OK! Given that song's local familiarity from 421 sets, I'll instead embed Diamond Head's rendition of "Helpless" below. While Diamond Head only retains guitarist Brian Tatler from their classic era, the current lineup sounds good from what I've heard, and singer Rasmus Bom Andersen is a solid fit, though the bass doesn't come through well in the videos, and earlier clips are shot at a worse angle from further away. Check our more from Diamond Head's local set above & below!

As for Chris' other videos, he got three each of the two local opening bands, including punk/metal quintet Jack Spades playing their songs "Rise", "To The Left", and as embedded below, "Motorwolf". These are their first public online videos with Rob Speers on bass, but from what I can tell, the band was also playing as a four-piece with no sign of guitarist Anthony Orazietti. No word on why he missed their set, but we'll let you know if anything else is afoot! Yes, J.D. Pearce was there, he's just singing in the crowd once again. The guys sound good as usual, and Rob fits in well, but he could show more of the energy he uses when fronting The Elements. Check these out above & below!

Finally, here's footage of classic metal quartet Project 421's opening set, as they tackled covers of Iron Maiden's "Running Free" & "Powerslave" and as embedded below, Saxon's "Denim & Leather". This isn't an optimal view of the band, with guitarist Frank McGillivray often out of camera range, but it captures 421's sound well, and for a band that covers Diamond Head so regularly, you know they were firing on all cylinders for this one! Give their videos a look above & below, and kudos to Chris again for his hard work filming all of this footage, it's much appreciated!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and updates this week on The Sault Metal Scene! Thanks everyone!